The present disclosure relates generally to devices useful for various health and fitness routines and discipline. In particular, yoga blocks, useful in performing various yoga poses and practices, that include storage for personal effects are described.
Yoga is a popular activity to engage in to improve both physical and mental health, as well as improve flexibility. Often yoga blocks are used in practice, as props to aid alignment or to support body parts to facilitate poses, or as a makeshift seat during meditation to ensure a seated posture with an upright spine. Further, yoga blocks are frequently used for other types of exercise beyond yoga, and so must be sturdy enough to support a user's weight in various orientations (both the block and the user). Such blocks are typically made from a rigid or solid foam, or on occasion from materials such as wood, cork, or plastic. Yoga blocks are typically the size of a large jewelry box, approximately 9″×4″×3″ in most implementations, but must be of sufficiently sturdy construction to meet the intended uses described above, which exceeds the durability of a typical jewelry or storage box.
However, known yoga blocks are not entirely satisfactory for the range of applications in which they are employed. Many people enjoy practicing yoga in a studio, where instruction, an appropriate environment, and a sense of community are readily available. Yoga studios often supply yoga blocks for patrons; however, these blocks are not always cleaned after every use, and consequently may pick up odors from sweat and otherwise be unsanitary. Furthermore, some yoga studios are sparsely equipped compared to gyms, lacking locker or other storage facilities for patrons' personal effects. In such a situation, a patron is forced to either leave their personal items in their vehicle or other location out of sight, where valuables become an easy target for theft or the cause of vehicle break-ins, or bring their items into the studio with them, which can create clutter and/or the possibility of breakage if a patron (or any other patron) is not careful. Also, different patrons will need to bring different items with them into the studio, e.g. glasses, keys, phones, toiletries, etc. A yoga block is of a suitable size to store most personal effects such as a phone and/or wallet, yet many yoga blocks are typically solid, and incapable of storage.
There are known in the art yoga blocks that are hollow so as to accommodate storage of personal effects. However, as noted above, the types of personal effects may vary from patron to patron. A simple hollow block fails to provide adequate storage in the context of a yoga block that is subject to movement and potential drops. Some personal effects, such as jewelry, can be damaged if not secured properly, or become tangled or knotted. Other combinations of personal effects can cause damage when stored together in an unrestrained fashion. For example, if keys are stored unrestrained in a container with a smartphone—two common personal effects that most people own—the keys can cause damage to the finish and screen of the smartphone. It is thus preferable that personal effects be stored in a fashion that suitably separates and protects the various items.
Thus, there exists a need for yoga blocks that include storage to improve upon and advance the design of known yoga blocks. As a variety of items may need to be stored in a given block, it is desirable to allow a user to customize the type of storage offered by a particular block. Examples of new and useful yoga blocks including storage that relevant to the needs existing in the field are discussed below.
Disclosure addressing one or more of the identified existing needs is provided in the detailed description below. Examples of references relevant to yoga blocks with storage include the following references: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,796,344, 7,318,794 and 8,646,971; and U.S. Patent Application Publications Nos. 2009/0023563, 2010/0147861 and 2015/0258363. The complete disclosures of the above patents and patent applications are herein incorporated by reference for all purposes.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0258363 to Kampinski discloses a yoga brick with an internal storage area and grip system that functions to secure the brick. The grip system includes two straps that lie in parallel grooves formed in the external surfaces of the brick, and are used to secure the brick in a closed configuration. The internal storage area can either include a stabilization means comprised of an interior container that is either permanently affixed within the internal storage area, or that fits snugly within the internal storage area and is held in place via friction from the snug fit. The configuration of the removable container is not discussed.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,318,794 to Davies discloses a yoga block system that includes a plurality of yoga blocks that can be releasably joined together along a common face to form a larger structure. At least one of the blocks is hollow, and allows a user to gain access to the interior for storage of items. As with Kampinski, the internal configuration of the block is not discussed.